The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
For the past few years, I would photograph my neighbor’s Japanese maple. The past two years I did some ICM of falling leaves. No, I did not sit and wait for the right time for the leaves to fall. My daughter and I would gather up a bunch of the fallen leaves, and she would climb our ladder and drop them. We tried one or two at a time, but that didn’t work well. Then she suggested we drop in bigger groups. Things started to come together then. One of the things I learned this year, was to not follow the leaves from her hand, but instead frame up the shot I wanted, and wait for the leaves to enter the frame. This one is pretty close to full frame.
Specific Feedback
I thought this would be an easy edit, but small changes in my color balance or hues and saturation would have some big swings in the images. I hope there is enough color contrast to see the leaves against the tree. And the lower branches might be a little too light. But burning sometimes shifted the color. Any suggestions welcome.
Technical Details
Canon R
ISO 200
f/12 at 0.16 second
24mm-240mm at 100mm
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
WOW Patrick this is a great and colorful image. The leaves falling look like birds flying at first glance. What a great idea. The composition is also wonderful. No nits al all .
THANKS
Very well done, Patrick! You started with a good idea for a shot. The base shot of the tree is done about as well as it could be. There’s just the right amount of ICM and the colors remain distinct.
I can see why getting the falling leaves would be the tricky part. I had no trouble figuring out what they were. If you were to do this again, I’d consider including more leaves and making them smaller. They seem to be falling from closer to the viewer than the tree is. But it’s a very good image as is.
This is very cool, Patrick. Since the falling leaves have their lines perpendicular (more or less) with the ICM lines, they stand out very well. You also did a good job of panning at their approximate speed so they are sharper and that also helps them stand out. The light area at the bottom doesn’t bother me. Your daughter had the right idea with a bunch of leaves. It’s giving me ideas on something I’ve had on the shelf for a couple of years.
Nicely done Patrick, your image strongly conveys the sense of falling, along with the colors. I see what you mean about the lower branches, but they don’t really draw my eyes away from the whole image.
Thanks all for the nice words. @Don_Peters I like your idea of getting them a little closer to the tree and a little smaller. I have one other angle to try on this tree, and I will try to put my daughter right in the tree to see if that works. @Dennis_Plank give your idea a go. If you are thinking something similar to this, I found a cloudy day works a lot better. Even with the same shutter speed, my sunny days just didn’t come together as well. @SkipsPics I have a few from another time that really look like birds. That was one of the fun joys to find when doing this.
